There has been a need to configure electrical and/or optical components in a gas-tight packaging, in order to keep harmful gases, such as oxygen, water vapor or the like away from the components.
Thus, it is known to configure components in a gas-tight, fixed housing of metal or plastic that is used as a packaging. In this context, the housing is evacuated or filled with a protective gas. What is problematic about a conventional arrangement, however, is the seal tightness of the housing, in particular the seal tightness of the joints, of the housing cover; as well as of the lead-through areas of terminal leads, e.g. glass fiber leads or electrical leads, into the housing interior. Moreover, conventional housings are complicated to manufacture and are, therefore, also expensive.
European Patent No. 0 508 286 describes a conventional arrangement which includes a film that at least partially covers the components.
Enclosed between the components and the film is a volume of air space, which is kept as small as possible. On the one hand, the film is constituted as a film-type wrapping which completely encloses the electrical and/or optical components and their leads and which is filled with a protective gas that is pressurized to a level above atmospheric pressure. The film enables a simple sealing action, on the other hand, because of its flexibility, an adaptation to varying temperature conditions.
This arrangement is disadvantageous due to the volume of air space enclosed between the components and the film. Such enclosed air volume may have an adverse effect on the enclosed components. For this reason, the components must be coated with a protective varnish to make them insensitive to environmental influences.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve an arrangement of electrical and/or optical components in a gas-tight packaging so that, given a simplest possible manufacturing, the arrangement will make it possible to prove an optimal protection of the components enclosed in the packaging.